Several methods for reporting copy machine status are known in the art. The simplest is a series of indicators arranged remotely as a "scoreboard" to show the status of each copier in a limited fashion. This approach, however, is only able to indicate gross failures and is not a practical monitoring system when there are a large number of copiers distributed over a large area or on multiple floors of a building.
A technique for remotely monitoring a number of copiers is the XEROX REMOTE INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATIONS (RIC) system which interfaces with several different XEROX copiers (such as the 1090) and relays status information over telephone lines to a central service office. The RIC has been designed primarily to collect billing information. In addition, it also collects ongoing failure information that it locally analyzes for failure trends, i.e., a sudden increase in jams in the fuser section. If a failure trend is recognized, the RIC will report its failure analysis to the service office. The RIC adapter consists of a dedicated microprocessor controller that plugs into a special data port at the copier and an auto-dial modem for direct hookup to a telephone line.
The RIC system has the disadvantage in that it is designed to interface with only a limited subset of XEROX copiers. To accommodate for the different copier models of both like and different manufacturers, a translator described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,875, which corresponds to the specific copier structure, is used to provide uniform interface between the copier and the central data collection point. The translator is a single device that is responsible for translating the incoming copier information into uniform signals to be read by the central data collection point as well as communicating with the remotely located scanner/multiplexer to accept and transfer information with the central data collection point.
There is the possibility that in this type of translator which is based on a single microprocessor can be overloaded and degrade system performance. An object of the present invention is to overcome this by using two separate microprocessor systems--one to translate the incoming copier information and one to communicate with the central data collection point. The main object of the present invention, however, is to provide a method of linking a plurality of copiers, through hardware and software, in such a way so as to provide continuous, automatic monitoring of copier status, in real time or quasi real time including error conditions, from a central location.
It is a further object of the present invention to monitor various types of copiers, i.e., static and dynamic, with a single system.